A DANGEROUS predator has been found guilty of the “sadistic and brutal” murder of a vulnerable Hampshire woman who was found with a shampoo bottle inside of her.
A jury at Winchester Crown Court took nine hours to convict Daniel McBride for the horrific murder of Majella Lynch, following a “perverted” attack in her Southampton flat.
The 43-year-old, dressed in a striped shirt, stood motionless and looked heavenward as the verdict was delivered.
Ms Lynch, known as Maj, was found at her home in St Mary’s Road on April 18 last year in agonising pain by her regular support workers.
The 51-year-old was extremely reluctant to say what had happened and initially refused to answer questions but told the first nurse she saw at Southampton General Hospital that she had been assaulted.
It wasn’t until she was scanned by doctors that they were shocked to discover a shampoo bottle inside of her abdomen, She underwent emergency surgery to have the bottle removed but she died of “massive infection” due to the damage already caused by the bottle, two days later.
Experts revealed that the severe pain caused by such an act “could not have been expected to be tolerated by anyone” and that the damage caused would have been “traumatic”.
CCTV caught McBride, of St Deny’s Road, Southampton, visiting Ms Lynch’s basement flat between 3.40am and 6.15am on April 18 – within the time frame of when doctors said she would have suffered the injuries.
He initially denied this when arrested but he later changed his story and admitted he had been there.
Having had an argument with his girlfriend and then turned down by not one but two women he had met earlier that night while in town, McBride, who had taken several lines of cocaine, was on the prowl for sex.
His previous girlfriends told how he had an interest in violent sexual activities and his mobile phone showed he regularly logged onto pornographic sites – including the morning that Ms Lynch was found.
He tried to make out he was the hero, claiming he walked past her home and heard her call out for help and offered to call an ambulance but those were lies he “invented” to try and fit the evidence, including his own DNA being in the flat.
The court heard how after the attack he went to a friend’s house and when he couldn’t get in, he went to a shop and went home “without a thought for Majella’s suffering, indifferent to whether she would live or die”.
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Ellie Hurd, said: “On Friday, April 18, Daniel McBride carried out a horrific, humiliating and sadistic attack on an extremely vulnerable woman for his own perverted purposes.
“Having invited himself into Maj Lynch’s home, he callously inflicted horrendous internal injuries to her, leaving her to die a prolonged and no doubt excruciatingly painful death.
“Daniel McBride has repeatedly lied about what happened that night and showed no remorse for his actions which can only have added to the uncertainty and distress of her friends and family.
“I hope today’s verdict and the sentence which follows can provide a degree of satisfaction that some justice has been achieved for Madge.”
Daniel McBride will be sentenced on Thursday, July 30.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article